Gazundering: Fair Negotiation or Legal Exploitation of Workers?

Gazundering is becoming a growing concern for homeowners and workers across England and Wales.

It happens when a buyer reduces an agreed offer before contracts are exchanged, sometimes just days before completion. The seller must then accept less or risk losing the buyer and possibly the property they are purchasing.

It is the opposite of gazumping, where a seller accepts a higher offer from somebody else after previously accepting an offer. In England and Wales, both practices remain legal. An accepted offer is not legally binding until contracts are exchanged. Until then, either side can withdraw or attempt to renegotiate the price.

The Impact on Workers

For workers and their families, gazumping and gazundering are not simply property-market terms. A last-minute reduction in an agreed price can remove thousands of pounds from a household budget, often far more than a worker could replace through wages or savings. It may affect the deposit available for the next home, increase the mortgage required or cause the entire chain to collapse. Workers may also lose money already paid for surveys, legal fees, mortgage arrangements, removals and time away from work. The resulting uncertainty can cause considerable stress, particularly when a family has already arranged schools, employment, childcare or care responsibilities around the move. A fairer system would recognise that working people cannot easily absorb these sudden financial losses.

Is gazundering overtaking gazumping?

There is no reliable national database recording every case, so it cannot be stated conclusively that gazundering now happens more frequently than gazumping.

However, market conditions have shifted in its direction. Gazumping is associated with a sellers’ market, where several buyers compete for limited properties. Gazundering becomes more likely in a buyers’ market, where sellers face greater competition and purchasers have more negotiating power.

In August 2026, the Conveyancing Association reported that more sellers were being affected by gazundering. Higher mortgage costs and the number of homes for sale being close to a 12-year high have strengthened the buyer’s position. Nevertheless, the association said deliberate gazundering remained relatively rare.

A reduction can be reasonable when a survey reveals subsidence, a damaged roof, a short lease or another previously unknown problem. It becomes much harder to defend when a buyer waits until the seller has paid legal costs, arranged removals and committed to another purchase before demanding an unjustified discount.

Legal does not automatically mean fair. Last-minute pressure can threaten an entire property chain and cause substantial financial and emotional harm to individuals trying to sell or buy a house. This is intensified when a worker has budgeted on a certain price and then is left needing more finances.

How do other countries handle it?

Scotland provides greater protection because property negotiations are conducted through solicitors. The transaction becomes binding when the contractual letters, known as missives, are concluded. Solicitors are also restricted from continuing to act for sellers who attempt to accept another offer after that point. Gazumping and gazundering are therefore less common, although neither is completely impossible before missives are concluded.

France offers a different balance. Once a seller accepts a qualifying written offer, the seller is committed. The private buyer receives a ten-day cooling-off period after signing the preliminary contract. The agreement can also contain conditions protecting the buyer if a mortgage is refused or another specified problem arises.

These systems appear fairer because they allow legitimate survey and finance protections while preventing either party from changing the price simply to exploit the other’s vulnerability.

The Figures Behind the Problem

Government figures published in 2026 state that an average home purchase takes approximately 120 days and around one in three transactions falls through. Research identified by HM Land Registry estimates that failed sales cost sellers in England and Wales approximately £400 million each year. The Government places the wider annual cost to the economy at up to £1.5 billion.

Under its proposed package of reforms, which includes upfront property information, greater digitalisation and earlier binding agreements, the Government predicts that transactions could become around four weeks faster. It estimates that the proportion of sales falling through could be reduced from one in three to approximately one in seven, saving consumers around £255 million each year.

The Government also reports that only around 9 per cent of property transactions fall through in Scotland. It suggests that Scotland’s greater use of agreements that become legally binding earlier is one reason for this lower failure rate.

These figures do not establish how many sales collapse specifically because of gazundering or gazumping. The figures do, however, demonstrate the financial cost and uncertainty created by the present system.

The figures break down as follows:

• 120 days for an average home purchase: correct.
• One in three sales falling through: correct as the Government’s stated estimate.
• £400 million annual cost to sellers: correct and specifically relates to England and Wales.
• Up to £1.5 billion annual cost to the economy: correct.
• Reduction from one in three to one in seven: a Government projection, not an established result.
• Four weeks faster: a Government projection for buyers.
• £255 million annual consumer saving: a Government projection.
• Scotland’s 9 per cent fall-through rate: quoted in the Government consultation.

What is the Best Way Forward?

The Workers of England Union is asking whether families and workers buying and selling homes deserve a more secure system. Should an accepted offer remain little more than a promise for several months, allowing either party to change the price after the other has spent thousands of pounds and made important financial commitments?

What Do You Think?

• Should buyers receive complete information about a property before it is placed on the market?
• Once an offer has been accepted, should the buyer and seller enter into an early conditional agreement?
• Should buyers have a short cooling-off period in case they need to reconsider?
• Should buyers be allowed to withdraw or renegotiate if a survey uncovers a serious defect?
• Should they also be protected if their mortgage application is refused despite reasonable efforts?
• After these protections have expired, should buyers or sellers face a financial penalty if they withdraw or change the agreed price without a genuine reason?
• Would these changes make buying and selling a home fairer for everyone?

These question would not prevent fair negotiation. A buyer could still seek a reduction when a survey reveals subsidence, roof damage or an undisclosed leasehold problem. What it would prevent is somebody deliberately waiting until the last moment to exploit the financial vulnerability of another family.

Stephen Morris, General Secretary of the Workers of England Union said

“Buying a home is one of the largest financial commitments most working people will ever make. It cannot be right that a buyer or seller can change the agreed price at the last moment simply because the other family has become financially vulnerable. We need complete information at the beginning, proper protection for genuine survey and mortgage problems, and a binding agreement once those checks have been completed. A fair system must protect buyers and sellers equally.”

*The opposite of gazumping is gazundering.
Gazumping: the seller accepts a higher offer from another buyer after already accepting yours.
Gazundering: the buyer reduces their offer shortly before contracts are exchanged, putting pressure on the seller to accept less.

References
(GOV.UK, Making an offer on a home, Sky News, More people are being hit by gazundering, Law Society of Scotland, Guidance on gazumping, French Government, Property purchase offers and preliminary sale agreements, GOV.UK, Homebuying shake-up, June 2026, GOV.UK, Home buying and selling reform consultation and numerous different media outlets)